John m



J. M. W. LONG.

{No Model.)

OIL GUP'PLUG.

No. 579,326. Patented Mar. 2s, 1897,

Inventor' Attorney MMM / ,j 4 WW W llnirn farne JOIIN M. L

arnnr miren.

OIL-CUP PLUG.

SPECIFICATION forming partlof Letters Patent N o. 579,326, dated March 23, 1897. Application filed January 9, 1897. Serial No. 618,523. (No model.)

To all whom, may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. WV. LONG, of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Cup Plugs, of which the following is a specification.

It is desirable that the oil holes or cups on journal-boxes be covered to prevent the admission of dirt, especially in the case of ag ricultural implements. The oil-cups of such machines are frequently protected by hinged covers, but it is found by experience that such covers have a flapping tendency as the implement moves over rough ground, the result being often that the cover serves to pump dust into the oil-cup. Protecting-plugs as ordinarily employed are not satisfactory and require an extra depth of oil-cup to receive them.

My invention pertains to a construction of plug for protecting an oil-cup without requiring extra depth of cup or interfering with the use in the oil-cup of plastic lubricants or of fibrous packing.

My improvement will be readily` understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure l is a front view of my improved oil-cup plug; Fig. 2, a side View of the same; and Fig. 3, a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of a journal-box and its oil-cup, the oil-cup plug appearing also in section.

In the drawings, l indicates the usual jou rnal-box; 2, the usual oil-cup thereof, having a cylindrical interior; 3, the improved plug for the oil-cup; 4, the body of the plug, having a cylindrical exterior to fit the interior of the oileup; 5, the roof portion of the plug; 6, the handle of the plug, and 7 the base portion of the plug.

YThe plug is struck up and bent from sheet metal, as tin. The body portion 4 is formed Vin two vertical halves joined by the handle portion G, which is folded flatly upon itself, the handle portion thus forming a flat handle and a means of union for the two halves of the body of the plug, and also has a spring, the latter by reason of the fact that the meeting edges of the body portions may be left somewhat open, the flexibility of the folded handle portion permitting the body to be contracted in diameter at the time of insertion into the oil-cup, the spring of the parts causing the body to expand and fill the oilcup and prevent displacement of the plug. The body of the plug1 being hollow permits of the presence of the plug in an oil-cup practically full of semisolid lubricant or lubricant and packing. The bases of the bodyhalves are preferably throated at their meeting edges, so that the halves of the body are scoopshaped at base, this form facilitating the insertion of the plug into the oil-cup and also facilitating the passage of the wall of the plug downwardly around the contents of the oil-cup.

'While my device will find its most frequent use as a plug ttin g the interior of an oilcup, it is obvious that the device may fit upon the outside of a cylindrical oil-cup and form a cap instead of a plug, the elasticity of the device in adapting itself to slight variations in diameter and in securing a frictional retaining fit and the scoop shape of the base in facilitating easy application being realized the same as when the device is used as a plug proper.

I claim as my inventionl. An oil-cup plug having a cylindrical hollow body formed of two halves united at their upper ends by a spring, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. An oil-cup plug formed hollow with its body portion cylindrical and in two halves united by a flat folded handle, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. An oil-cup plug formed hollow with its body portion cylindrical and in two halves united by a flat folded handle, the bases of the two halves of the hollow cylindrical body being scoopshaped, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

JOIIN M. IV. LONG.

lVitnesses:

JAMES W. Sun, SAM D. FiTroN, Jr. 

